Permanence
by The Crow and the Butterfly
Summary: He wants to just freeze things the way they are; just him, her, and the stars.  TsubasaMisaki


I planned to get something out by the fifteenth but forgot I'd be on a camping trip then. And there there was the issue of what it should be, because I had at least seven ideas and none of them had enough substance to become a story on their own. I decided to lump them all together in a sort of drabble collection, but it turned out that I just didn't want to write it and it was mostly pointless anyway. So here's just one of the parts: too long to be officially considered a drabble, but a bit too short for me to want to call it a one-shot.

Any supposedly factual information is based off what I remember of the things my dad tried to explain to me when I was around eight or so. I haven't got any idea whether you see these particular constellations in Japan in the summer, but at this point I don't really know if it matters.

Don't own. I also don't know how old they are here. I'd guess eleven or so... Does it matter?

* * *

He squinted up at the sky, his voice laced with skepticism. "No. There's no way around it. It's a W. Or maybe an M, if you look at it the other way. But those are the only things it could possibly be."

"It's Cassiopeia, Tsubasa. _Cassiopeia_."

It was midsummer, and much too hot to sleep, or, for that matter, do anything else. They were sprawled on the lawn in their pajamas, her head resting on his chest, making attempts at stargazing. Personally, Tsubasa didn't understand the appeal. He was hopeless at seeing shapes in stars, or at least, the ones other people saw. But he really didn't have anything else to do, and the knowledge that he was supposed to be in his room at midnight instead of lying outside with a friend made it better, in a way that he couldn't quite describe.

"Well, what does that even mean?"

Misaki sighed heavily. "It's a name. Cassiopeia is a woman."

She couldn't see him clearly through the darkness, but she knew he was rolling his eyes. "I don't know any women shaped like W's, do you?"

"Oh, you have no imagination." She rolled over to look him in the face. "See, it's in profile. She's sitting down, so her body would bend like that. You see it?"

"Nope."

She held her breath for a few moments, his heart pounded in her ears. "You're hopeless," she murmured, trying to sound disappointed but ending up just smiling affectionately in his direction.

He didn't catch her tone, or rather, ignored it. "Now, come on. At least I can tell why they call it the Big Dipper."

"Ursa Major, you mean. The Great Bear."

"Bear?" Tsubasa groaned. "Alright, I give up. No way in hell that's a bear."

"It's only part of it..."

"Who decided this, anyway? Could I just play connect-the-dots with a few stars, say it's a picture, and make it official?"

"It doesn't work like that, Tsubasa."

"Fine," he muttered. "But I'm just trying to figure out how someone saw a bear in that. I mean, in those books where they draw the picture over the actual stars, some of them have to add on whole heads and legs and tails and things. That has to be cheating." He propped himself up on his elbows and looked around, forgetting Misaki, who tumbled into his lap with a gasp. "Sorry 'bout that."

She sat up and drew her knees up to her chest, swaying in a slight breeze. "No prob. Are you done ranting, or…"

"Yeah, I guess so." He leaned his head back and yawned widely. "Alright. Find another one, and I'll see if I get it this time."

Misaki looked up again, considering, and a few seconds later, pointed up into the sky. "See, there. That's Orion. "

He squinted upwards, trying to locate the spot where she was pointing in the field of identical stars. "Where?"

"Right there. See? Those three stars, that's Orion's Belt."

He pointed in roughly the same direction. "These three?"

"No, these ones." She tucked her head into the curve of his shoulder to see from his angle, then her fingers skimmed his bare arm and she covered his hand with hers, moving it a slight bit back. Tsubasa shivered, even in the summer heat.

"I still don't understand," he breathed hopelessly into her ear, shifting his free hand to a spot underneath her.

"No, look…" She paused, looking at him from the corner of her eye. "Tsubasa, I can't move."

He jerked his hand up from the ground, bathed in long shadows. "Sorry. It's just… Do you ever get that feeling that you'd like to just freeze things the way they are?"

She felt his heartbeat skip as she reached up to ruffle his hair fondly. "You're such a weirdo."

* * *

I feel so... fluffy.

By the way, foxtrotelly, I seem to recall that you said you'd be forever grateful if I wrote some Tsubasa. Of course, that kind of got set on the back burner when I promised you that other thing, but you still better be grateful.

Reviews, anyone?


End file.
